Larry Elmore is an amazing artist, one of the top in the fantasy art field. For years his work has graced the covers of books, magazines, and the homes and offices of the rich and shameless as well as the bedrooms, dens, and gaming dungeons of gamer geeks like me.

He is also a man with a kind and gentle spirit who, while working in the corporate environment, longed to follow his own dreams and desires in his art rather than forcing his creative energies into the corporate box. Larry has now broken out of the box and he is following the vision and passion of his art.

I have had the pleasure of chatting with Larry at conventions such as Wizard World and Gen Con and more recently on the set of Brother’s Barbarian where he plays the Old Wizard. Larry has a lot going on between his painting and the book he is working on but he agreed to take out the time for an interview with me.

John Collins (JC): Thanks taking the time to do an interview with me Larry! It was a pleasure to see you when I visited the set of Brothers Barbarian earlier this Fall and it is great to catch up with you. I loved Brothers Barbarian Season One but I have to ask, did your character ever learn to teleport his clothes or will season two also see you hiding in the bushes?

Larry Elmore (LE): Well, I think it will be better. More dangerous (whooooaaaaa!!!) I have to carry around that dang puppet dragon a lot and it weighs over twenty pounds at the least (that is MY opinion).

(JC): I got a Facebook invite to like your SnarfQuest fan page earlier today. Tell me what is happening with SnarfQuest?

(LE): Snarfquest? I will be running a story in the magazine, Knights of The Dinner Table. I started a story back around 2000-01, in a little known magazine called Games Unplugged. About 6 or 8 episodes were published and the magazine was sold and shortly stopped printing. I never got to finish the story, I just got into it and this fall I agreed with Jolly Blackburn (KOTDT) that I would go ahead and finish that story in their magazine. Then I hope in a year or so that I can do a Kickstarter on a totally new 48-64 page graphic novel. Many many people have ask me to do that over the years at conventions and emails, but it is not economically feasible for me. It would take months to do a totally new color book with that many pages. And I can’t take six months or so to do the book without getting paid. If I could raise enough money to live off of while doing a new Snarfquest Graphic Novel, then I could handle that! I think it would be a fun project.

(JC): I’ve heard rumors that you are coming out with a new book. Can you tell me about that?

(LE): Yes, with the kickstarter project that I am now running (ends Dec.31st), I will (and have already) raise enough money to do a big hardback book of almost all my art I have created during my career. It is a book for my fans and my grandchildren. I have done a lot of paintings during my career and I have high resolution scans of about 90%. Some paintings are lost to me, no way to reproduce them, but I am going to try to get about everything in one book. It will be the story of my life and career, I plan on putting in the first painting I ever tried to paint (my mom still had that one)–and it sucks!!! But I will be showing the good ones, bad ones and the UGLY! LOL! Throw it all in there. Right now you can purchase the book on Kickstarter for $49–when this Kickstarter project ends the book will cost a lot more. The book will not be put into circulation, you can buy it from me at the conventions I attend or through my website, I will print about a thousand extra copies that I will sell at a retail price around $80. The book will be a 336 page hardback and I will have it printed here in the old USA the BEST I POSSIBLY CAN!!!

(JC): What sort of incentives do you have going for those that kick in on your Kickstarter?

(LE): If you support the Kickstarter project, then you can get everything from the basic book, up to a leather bound hardback… Some stretch goals include prints of three D&D paintings, prints of the first three Dragonlance covers, sketches included, drawings included, and even riding your motorcycle to my house for a studio tour and we ride our bikes on some crooked and hilly Kentucky back roads. We have thrown in everything but the kitchen sink… I hope I have a little money left when this is over.

(JC): This is awesome news! I am looking forward to seeing it once it is out! Say hi to your lovely wife for me and I will look forward to seeing you at Gen Con if not sooner!

(LE): Sure, I will be at Gencon and Dragoncon for sure. I also plan on being at the Emerald City convention in Seattle in a few months. Hey, thanks for the interview, you guys take it easy and stay out of trouble.